No Greater Friend
by SirStonewall
Summary: A heavily traumatized U.S Kanmusu gets her chance to fight for Uncle Sam again, but when Japan calls for help, will she let her past control who she is?
1. Chapter 1: Rebirth

**[A/N]: This is a story I've had sitting unattended for a while, but with the recent rediscovery of the USS Indianapolis I felt now was as good a time as any to upload the first chapter. Some facts aren't completely historically accurate regarding the sinking, but it makes for a good story. I intend no disrespect to the sailors who experienced the tragic ordeal.**

 **Advanced warning, this fic will often bounce between casual and dark themes. You have been warned.**

* * *

When the second torpedo hit I knew that I couldn't last. The captain did too, but nobody could've guessed that a tough ship such as myself would have sunk in only twelve minutes.

Then, for a while things seemed downright peaceful at the bottom. I laid on my back, staring up at the surface that seemed so close, yet out of reach.

And then a few hours later the sharks came.

They picked off the wounded and the dead, dragging them into the depths where I could watch them tear apart those who I had tried so hard to protect. While being forced to listen to the pained distorted screams I wanted to cry, cry for my crew, cry for their families. Cry for their futures lost.

Then three days later, when I saw the distorted image of the PV-1 Ventura fly over and drop life rafts I wanted to cheer alongside the sailors above, but the darkness at the bottom seemed to gag me and keep me from joining those I loved in celebration. I fought it as hard as I could, kicking and thrashing in a vain attempt to free myself so they could hear me one last time, but the more I fought the more the sharks attacked. I watched in muted horror as the men succumbed to sickness. Dehydration and exposure killed at least a hundred, if not more. When I saw the men clutching their stomachs I remember shaking loose every small scrap of food I could find towards the surface. I saw them rejoice at the occasional can of SPAM or C-ration that made it to the surface, and rejoiced along with them when some selflessly distributed portions of it to their brothers-in-arms, leaving none for themselves.

After the PBY touched down I watched some of them scramble towards it. The crew of that floatplane earned my undying respect when they loaded it down to capacity and then some, damaging the aircraft in order to save as many men as possible.

Mere hours later more and more destroyers showed up, eventually rescuing all of the remaining sailors before eventually sailing off towards Guam.

'Wait, don't leave me here alone!' I wanted to yell.

As I watched their props and red hulls fade into the distance I started to kick and thrash, and I continued until I saw the liberty ships and warships packed with soldiers pass overhead weeks later. Among them, Portland, the name ship of my class, and my sister ship. I watched her cut through the calm seas on her way past me, and thrashed even more intensely that before. "God damn it let me go! I want to be with her!"

It takes me a second to realize that I actually managed to yell that, and I keep thrashing until a voice comes out of the darkness.

"You still have plenty of fight left in you. You may go. Good luck little one."

The voice fades away, leaving me stunned and confused until I feel weightless, I want to swim to the surface, but I finally process what the voice said. "Hey! Who the hell are you calling little?!"

Off in the distance I hear a muted laugh, and everything goes dark all at once.

* * *

A pounding amidships and in the conning tower is what awakens me. I immediately look around for any visual contacts, listening to my radar for… wait a minute, where the hell is my radar?!

I look down at myself, expecting to see steel and paint, only to find pale skin and thin white cloth.

"I'm… human?"

 _{Yes, but no.}_

The voice of a woman broadcasts over speakers inside the room, and I frantically look around, my… eyes, settling on a large glass window behind me. Behind the glass I can see two humans, a rather curvaceous brunette woman that any of my sailors would have drooled over, and a stocky man in an admiral's uniform who reminds me of Admiral Spruance.

"I'm sorry... could you please clarify ma'am?"

 _{You are a human, but you have the soul of a ship. What is your designation and ship class?}_

"Erm… Portland-class heavy cruiser CA thirty-five USS Indianapolis. Reporting for duty I guess?"

I see the woman crack a smile and say something to the admiral, who nods and walks out of sight before she leans down to the small microphone. _{I'll be down in a minute. Please remain calm and be patient.}_

"Aye ma'am."

She turns and walks out of sight, leaving me to look over this new hull-err… body.

 _'This is going to take some getting used to'_

I brush my slender fingers against the flesh on my stomach, relishing in the soft, warm feeling of the pale skin.

I peel the bedsheet back slightly to look at myself and find the beginning of what I believe my sailors called a 'six pack' on my stomach before reaching up and giving one of my ample breasts a squeeze, causing an involuntary squeak to escape my lips. I quickly remove my hand from the region and fold my hands in my lap, patiently waiting until the large metal door is opened.

"I should have introduced myself earlier, but I'm Arizona. I'm sure you remember me."

"Of course I remember you! I was reminded every time I visited Pearl!" I pause and realize how rude that may have sounded. "Erm… sorry if that's a sore spot…"

"Nah it's fine! I had plenty of time to come to terms with what happened. Now on your feet, take it slow and find your balance before you try to walk."

"Err… I don't have any clothing on…"

She shrugs in response to my admission. "There's no shame among us ship girls. I've seen everyone else without clothes."

"Oh… okay…" I sit up, letting the sheet fall off me before swinging my legs out and planting my feet against the cold concrete floor.

I slowly stand up, trying to find my center of balance, which is relatively easy, given that I was relatively balanced as a ship, though leaning towards being topheavy.

"Alright, I think I got it."

I take a cautious step forward, away from the metal table I was laying on, then another, and another. I soon find myself standing directly in front of Arizona, who has a big grin on her face. "Hey good job! I think you're the first person who's managed to walk and not fall over before reaching me."

"Erm… thanks?"

"You're welcome. Now if you'll follow me we'll get you some clothes and you can go meet the admiral."

"Okay."

She turns around and leads the way out the door, moving slowly so I can keep up while still getting used to walking.

"Well, on the bright side you didn't miss much of the war after you went down. They hit Japan twice with bombs made from that Uranium you delivered. Completely leveled most of Hiroshima and Nagasaki with one bomb apiece. They surrendered unconditionally not much later after that."

"I see… So why are we here? Surely there's a reason to bring back warships? Did the Japs try something again?"

"Heheh. No it's not the Japanese this time, as a matter of fact we've actually joined forces with them. We're fighting an enemy known as the Abyssals. Nobody knows exactly where they came from -rumor has it they came from the oceanic trenches- but it doesn't matter where they came from. They're trying to wipe us off the face of the earth and we've gotta kick their asses back into whatever shithole they crawled out of."

I smile, getting a little bolder with my walking. "Aye ma'am. You sure know how to rally someone to a cause."

"Well I'd sure hope so. I've been doing this for five years." She replies as she stops by a door, motioning for me to enter.

I walk into the door to find something familiar to pictures I'd seen of old ready rooms.

"I need to get your measurements for your clothes, so please stand upright, both arms out to the side with your feet together."

I do as instructed, squeaking in surprise when Arizona wraps a tape measure around my chest, then my waist, hips, and finally getting my height.

"You've got battle scars Indianapolis. There's one on your right side and one on your neck." She says while writing down my measurements.

"Damn Jap sub." I mumble, letting my arms drop to my sides.

"I see… I'm sorry if it's a sensitive topic. Let's get you dressed then." She leads the way to a series of shelves. "Pick out whatever fits your fancy."

"Erm… think you could help me? I really don't know what I would look good in."

She laughs and nods, striding up to the shelves and tapping her finger against her chin for a second before grabbing a set of black panties and a similarly colored bra. "Try these on. Let me know if you need help with the bra."

"I think I can get it. My sailors were pervs."

"And yet you were the one watching them?"

I feel my face heat up. "I-i-it's not like that!"

"I know. It's just fun messing with new ships!" Arizona teases while I slip the undergarments on, almost falling over in the process before I sit down on a nearby bench. "Oh, do you want a skirt or jeans?"

"Jeans please."

I manage to get the undergarments on correctly and Arizona passes me a long sleeve shirt with a white torso and red arms.

"I'll help you so we can get this done."

"Eep!"

* * *

After a rather embarrassing few minutes where Arizona essentially dressed me on her own we board a large elevator and ascend towards the surface.

"Heavy cruiser Indianapolis, allow me to be the first to welcome you to the San Francisco Naval District."

No sooner does Arizona clap me on the shoulder do we reach the surface. I grab the grate of the doors and stare out of San Francisco harbor.

"W-wow. It's changed so much since I last saw it…"

Arizona opens one side of the grated doors and steps out, motioning for me to follow her. "Well, it has been more than fifty years since you were last here."

"Wait really?!"

She nods and grins over her shoulder. "Yep! Now come on, the admiral is waiting."

I release the gate and step out, tripping on the small ledge, only being saved from falling by Arizona, who wheels around, catches me, and steadies me with a hand on each shoulder. "Easy now, I don't need to bring you to the admiral all scuffed up."

"O-of course. Sorry… this is difficult to get used to."

"Just take it one step at a time. It's a bit of a walk to the admiral's office, so you'll get plenty of practice."

She releases me and slows her pace, allowing us to walk side by side while we traverse the various walkways leading through the naval district.

After what seems like an eternity we reach a nondescript two-story building overlooking the harbor. Arizona leads me up the front steps and through the door, where I almost collide with two girls coming out, but thankfully they step to the side, and one offers a reassuring smile. "I recognize that look anywhere. Who's the new girl Arizona?"

I look to Arizona, who gives me a nod and a smirk, then I turn to the girl and raise my hand in a salute. "CA-35 heavy cruiser Indianapolis."

She enthusiastically returns the salute. "CL-67 light cruiser Topeka. Pleasure to meet you." She lowers her hand and looks to Arizona. "Hey… can I go tell Portland…?"

My heart skips a beat at the mention of my sister ship, and Arizona nods. "You can tell her there's a new ship, but under no circumstances are you to specify class or name. I want this to be a surprise."

Topeka nods and throws an arm over the shoulder of the girl next to her, or rather tries to, since the latter is taller than her. "Come on Guam, I think we can stay silent about this. I want to be there to see it though."

Guam starts walking towards the door after sending a salute and a smirk my way. "It'll be at supper I'm sure. See you then Indy."

The two girls leave, and Arizona guides me up a set of stairs, down the hall to a set of double doors. Without hesitation she opens the door and motions me in, whispering 'be official' as I pass her. I get in the door, continue five more steps, and snap to attention, saluting the admiral. "Heavy cruiser Indianapolis reporting for duty sir!"

He slowly stands up and returns the salute, then relaxes back into his chair. "At ease. Welcome to the San Francisco naval district, I'm admiral Chance. Please, sit down." He motions towards a chair, then looks towards the door. "Please enter, Secretary."

Arizona strides in and closes the door behind her, then walks over to lean against a desk in the corner. "She seems stable enough, though she's lacking a bit of that cruiser soul we've been looking for. With some training she'll be incredibly useful." Arizona reports, nonchalantly running her fingers through her hair.

"I see… How are you adapting to this Indianapolis?"

"I… I'm not exactly sure what to think sir. I'm glad I get a second chance at life, but something just doesn't feel right. The learning to walk was easy enough, but being on land just seems sort of absurd."

Admiral Chance grins and sticks a pipe in his mouth, looking around for a lighter before he's stopped by a glare from Arizona. He sighs and places the cob pipe on the desk. "Well, you'll get your chance to stretch your legs on the water tomorrow, for today though you are to eat, sleep, and focus on basic moving like walking and running."

"Yes sir, thank you Admiral."

"You're quite welcome. Secretary Arizona I assume you have a bunk picked out for our new arrival?"

"Of course. Carrier group two has been needing another heavy cruiser, and she just happens to fit the bill."

The admiral nods in approval and picks up his pipe, gnawing on the stem. "Very well. I'll have your assistant pick up the necessary study books and deliver them. You both are dismissed."

I ease myself out of the chair and salute the admiral before pushing the chair in and following Arizona out, closing the door gently behind me.

I safely traverse the stairs and we're outside before I bring up a question with Arizona.

"So who's your assistant?"

"Heavy cruiser Northampton. She couldn't quite keep up in any of the flotillas, so she got assigned as my assistant."

"Huh."

I remember Northampton from the war, but she never had trouble keeping up with even the carrier task forces. Her role in desperately trying to tow Hornet to safety at Santa Cruz earned her respect of the entire fleet, and her sinking at Tassafaronga struck a big hit to morale in the fleet.

"If you have any flashbacks or nightmares about your sinking you should talk to her. She's a very understanding person, and she's very comforting." Arizona lays a gentle hand on my shoulder as we walk, her voice soft.

The sound of gunfire down by the water's edge interrupts the moment, and Arizona scowls as she watches orange F4F Wildcat fighters fly overhead, then circle back over the bay. We descend a lengthy set of steps and proceed to walk along the warfs until we reach a pier that has three girls standing on it, each one of them holding a shotgun and wearing what looks like a carrier flightdeck on their left arm, with only one on a raised platform. The girl on the raised platform calmly feeds shells into the weapon before working the pump-action and raising it to her shoulder. Across the bay I hear the report of a rifle, and the girl on the platform aims at a dozen or so black specks in the sky before firing her shotgun three times in rapid succession. I'm just about to ask Arizona what is going on before the three spreads of what I can guess is birdshot turns into three flights of orange F4F's that climb up to the black specks, which I now realize are aircraft.

"So… what's going on?" I mumble to Arizona, who takes a seat on a nearby crate.

"Those are three escort carriers. They're practicing dogfighting with a fleet carrier that's across the bay. The one up on the platform is Anzio, the one to the right is Tulagi, and the last one is Tripoli."

The report of the fleet carrier across the bay sounds two more times, and Anzio responds with three more flights of Wildcats before lowering her shotgun and watching the battle. I strain to watch the high-altitude dogfight, and judging at first from the amount of planes falling out of the skies I guess that her planes are winning. I'm proven wrong when one last orange F4F plummets into the water by the end of the pier, and a flight of four orange F6F fighters make a low and slow pass overhead before turning and flying across the bay.

Anzio pouts and steps off the raised platform, grabbing a handful of shotshells from a nearby box before jamming them into a pouch on her hip. "Didn't even get _one_! Come on girls, we can do better than this!"

Tulagi reaches into a similar pouch on her hip before pulling out a fistful of shotshells and dropping them into the box. "Come on Anzio, let's call it a day. She's got more experience than all three of us combined and she's got better planes. It's almost dinner time too."

"But-"

"I heard they're serving ice cream tonight." Tripoli interdicts before Anzio can argue, and the latter perks up at the mention of ice cream.

"Ice cream? Okay! Let's get our stuff put up and let's go!"

Across the bay there's the single crack of the rifle again, and as the three escort carriers empty their pockets of shotshells a single SB2C Helldiver dive bomber flies low overhead, makes a single orbit, and then flies back across the bay.

"Come on, let's go." Arizona gets up and herds me along before the carriers finish what they're doing. A few minutes of walking later we stop in front of a large building that Arizona identifies as the naval district restaurant.

"All ship girls eat free. All you can eat from oh-four-hundred until twenty-one-hundred. Usually everyone meets up here at oh-seven-hundred for breakfast and nineteen-hundred for supper. Dinner is whenever you get hungry."

"I see… So what's the plan?"

"I'll be introducing you to the fleet as a whole, and then I have to go meet the Japanese secretary ship Mutsu. So you'll be left to your flotilla." Arizona explains, leading the way into the restaurant. I follow close behind as she walks up onto a small stage of sorts she motions for me to stop off stage while she approaches a podium and turns on the microphone.

"Third fleet may I have your attention please? I assure you this won't take long."

The sound of conversation quickly dies down, and Arizona smiles before continuing.

"I have a couple of announcements to make. I'll save the best for last. Firstly, the Japanese have requested that we send at least one, if not more flotillas to their aid in destroying the Abyssals. I expect You all to talk amongst yourselves tonight, and if any flotilla wants to volunteer I'll be asking at breakfast tomorrow. Secondly I would like to congratulate Fifth Flotilla on sinking two Wo-class carriers." There's a round of applause before she raises her hand for silence and continues. "Last but most certainly not least, would the heavy cruiser Portland please come up onto stage for a minute?"

I listen to the sound of boots on the tile floor as someone gets up and walks to the steps leading onto the stage. A few seconds later I see the the girl who is my sister ship. She has her back to me, and Arizona discretely waves me forward. I stride forward, out of the shadows of backstage and onto the stage itself, stopping a few feet behind Portland while Arizona talks into the microphone on the podium.

"Today at fifteen hundred hours the admiral received word that a new ship was under creation in the box. At seventeen hundred hours the admiral and myself observed the awakening of this new ship-girl, and after the ship had suffered such a tragic ending during the war it seems fitting that she was given a second chance to fight for Uncle Sam. Ladies of Third fleet, let's give a warm welcome to the Portland-class heavy cruiser, Indianapolis!" She motions towards me, and Portland wheels around, staring at me with wide eyes in complete shock.

I have no idea how I got the idea, but it just seems like the right thing to do. I stride forward and pull her into a hug, my right arm over her shoulder while my left is under her other shoulder.

The entire restaurant bursts into cheering and clapping when Portland finally breaks free of her surprise and hugs me back, squeezing me tight while tears roll down her cheeks.

"I thought I'd never see you again…"

"I know, I missed you too…" I mutter back, resting my head on her shoulder.

After a minute or so Arizona coughs into her fist, and we separate before she turns back to the microphone.

"As of today Indianapolis will be assigned to carrier group two. You will be in charge of helping her catch up on her studies as well as giving her training. That is all, carry on."

Arizona turns off the microphone and starts to walk past us. "Sorry about having to run like this. I'll check in on you tomorrow."

"Thank you Arizona. I'll see you tomorrow then." I respond, watching her walk into the shadows of backstage and out of sight.

"Well, come on Sis! Let's get you some food!" Portland chimes, grabbing me by the arm and pulling me towards the stairway off the stage.

"Wah! Slow down! I'm still trying to get used to this!"

She thankfully slows before I lose my footing, and we walk down the steps before she leads me to a table, where at least a dozen other girls sit, happily munching on some interesting looking food whilst talking amongst themselves. I can't make out what they're saying until I get closer.

"I mean, despite how much they'll probably all hate my guts I'll go."

"So that makes five. How about you Lex?"

"Wherever Big E goes I'll go. Sign me up."

"Six yes. Now where's Portland with Indy-oh there you are! Pull up a seat!"

I take a seat next to Portland while she waves over a waitress.

"Hey Maryl, could you get Indianapolis here a small dish of my usual? Just trying to figure out what she likes."

"Sure thing. Give us a few, someone just placed a big order and Bury is overworked as it is. I'll get to making it soon as we're done with this order."

"Thank you darlin'."

The waitress walks off in a hurry, and Portland grins toothily. "Alright! I believe introductions are in order! Starting from the other corner we have my old friends from Surigao. Louisville, Minneapolis, Boise, and Columbia. Then we have the new girls. Destroyers Johnston, Laffy, Compton, and Meredith. Light cruisers Oakland and Flint. Heavy cruisers Chicago, Toledo, and Salem. Battleships Missouri and Alabama. Large cruisers Guam and Alaska. And last but not least carriers Lexington, Enterprise, and Wasp."

"H-hello everyone…" I manage to squeak out, feeling the sudden urge to hide behind Portland.

"So you're our new heavy cruiser huh? You don't look so special to me." Salem regards me like any of my sailors would have regarded a new batch of replacements. "Well, aside from that scar on your neck. How'd you get that and where can I get one?"

Missouri scowls at Salem. "You post-war cruisers are idiots. Don't you pay attention in class?"

I look down at the table. "You take a pair of torpedoes and sink. That's how you get a scar like this."

"O-oh shit, I'm sorry. I didn't mean-"

"Just leave her alone Salem." Portland snaps from beside me, glaring at the cruiser down the table.

"Welcome to the fleet Indianapolis! If you need anything let Missouri or I know." Enterprise breaks the tense attitude, grabbing Salem by the elbow. "C'mon Salem, let's go for a walk."

"But I'm not done eat-"

"Why sure we can practice your night combat! I've been itching to try out these new training planes!"

Salem turns pale and gets up, letting herself get pulled down the aisle and out the door.

Once the two are out the door Missouri looks at me, slumping her shoulders. "I'm sorry about her. She doesn't pay attention worth a damn and she acts all high and mighty."

"Whoop her ass hard enough and she'll learn to respect you." Alabama adds in, stretching her arms above her head.

"Or you could just tell her what happened. She seemed pretty apologetic." Portland glares at Alabama for a moment before the waitress from earlier returns with a bowl of food, placing it in front of me.

"Here you go! One small order of grilled tuna in steamed rice!"

"... Hey, there's no Teriyaki sauce on it." Portland looks at the bowl while I grab a spoon and load a bit of the bowl's contents onto it.

"The last order required a ton of Teriyaki sauce. We're out. Sorry."

I take a cautious nibble at the food, then pop the spoonful into my mouth and start chewing.

"So what do you think?" Portland asks.

I relish in the explosion of flavor inside my mouth and swallow the mouthful of food. "It's good!"

There's a collective giggle that ripples around the table as I dig in, carefully but quickly chewing each bite.

Before I know it, the bowl is empty.

"Umm… I'm still hungry…" I start to ask for seconds, but Portland is already ahead of me.

"Hey Bury! Another order of my usual! Regular size this time!"

"Coming right up!" A voice calls from the kitchen. "We're outta Teriyaki, so you want it with Soy?!"

"Yes please!"

A few relaxed moments pass before Missouri leans on the table, looking down the line at the rest of us. "So. Portland, Indy, whatd'ya say? Wanna go help the Japs?"

"I'm cool with it. How about you Sis?" Portland looks to me, as does everyone else.

"Uhhhmmm… I haven't even been back out on the water yet, but… sure… I guess."

"You'll get plenty of practice between here and Pearl. But tomorrow is when we'll take you out so you can get your feet wet and get some easy practice in."

"A-alright then. I'm in." I stutter, looking down at my hands. I open and close my fists, sampling the feeling a couple times while everyone else talks until Portland leans in to mumble in my ear. "Weird feeling isn't it?"

"Yeah… I just can't get over it…" I mutter back.

"You'll get over it in a couple days. Soon as you get your hands on your rigging everything'll feel right."

"Rigging…?"

"Yeah, your rigging is what you'll take to combat, just like those vests the boys used to throw on during General Quarters."

"Oh… that makes sense."

A large bowl heaping with food is placed in front of me, and I'm clapped on the shoulder by the pink-haired girl who was carrying it.

"Hey, just wanted to say welcome to the Naval District. I'm Bury, the cook here. If you want anything special made, feel free to ask. I'll make it no questions asked."

"I will. Thanks." I smile and give her a nod.

"Bury! We got another big order!" A familiar voice yells from the kitchen.

"I'm on break!" The girl replies.

"My ass! Get the fuck in here! I'm not making this shit by myself!"

With a roll of her eyes the cook starts towards the kitchen, throwing a wave over her shoulder before heading through the double doors and disappearing from sight.

"Maryl works her so hard. I feel sorry for her sometimes." Chicago says with a shake of her head.

"She's gonna run that poor liberty ship into the bottom if she keeps this up." Flint agrees.

"So Bury is a liberty ship? Then what's Maryl?" I ask, picking up my spoon before digging into the food in front of me.

"A regular human. She doesn't understand that even ship-girls have limits. She knows we need food, sleep, and fuel. That's it." Chicago clarifies. "I would know. When my rigging got messed up I had to work for her to pass the time. I'm a Baltimore-class heavy cruiser and _I_ almost tapped out."

"Yeah, but you're made with one thing in mind: combat. Bury is one of the versatile types of ships out there. She excels at heavy lifting and hard work for long hours." Missouri defends. "That doesn't mean that Maryl needs to work her to her limit though."

That continues for several minutes until I finish my bowl of food, finally feeling satisfied.

"Alright. I'm done eating, I think I'll go take a walk around the district." I stand up and start walking towards the door.

"I'll go with you." Portland gets up as well and starts following me, waving goodbye to the others in the process.

We leave the restaurant and start walking down the boardwalk by the water, watching the setting sun in relative silence.

"So what did I miss? Fighting the Japs I mean." I finally ask, leaning against the railing to look out over the harbor.

"Not a hell of alot. We dropped two bombs on them and then they surrendered. Your sinking led to a lot of fingers being pointed, and Mcvay was -and still is- the only captain to be court-martialed for the sinking of his own ship."

"They court-martialed him?! He didn't do anything wrong though!"

"He was a scapegoat. Hell, the sub captain that sank you testified at the court-martial too."

"Is… is he still alive?" I ask, hopeful that I might get to meet the old goat again, maybe apologize.

"No, he shot himself back in '68."

"Oh…" I look down at the water, watching a piece of foam get pushed around in a small whirlpool.

"C'mon, let's head down to the bunkhouse and get you a bunk. Think you're confident enough to try jogging?" Portland asks, rubbing my back.

"I don't know, but it's worth a try."

"Follow my lead and you'll do fine."

Portland pushes off the wooden railing and starts jogging down the boardwalk.

I do the same, copying the size of her strides and how she bounces a little with each stride. Before I know it we're jogging side-by-side, and Portland is giving me a loving smile.

"I knew you could do it. Wanna try running?"

"Let's do it!" I cheer, thrilled at being able to progress so quickly. I take note of how Portland changes her stride and do the same, taking faster strides that are longer and have more power behind them.

Once again, I find us both side-by-side, and to my amusement I actually start to pull ahead, glancing over my shoulder often to watch the gap between us get bigger.

" _Look out_!"

I look back in front of me to see Arizona with a woman that I haven't met yet, practically five feet in front of me.

I successfully dodge to the side, but after the sidestep in front of them my ankles connect with each other and I fall to the ground, going 'ass over teakettle' so that I'm laying on my back looking up at the sky. "Owww."

"Good progress Indianapolis, but it looks like you got a bit ahead of yourself." Arizona giggles, looking down at me with an amused grin.

"Yes ma'am, it would appear so. Sorry for almost bowling you over." I huff back, out of breath from running so hard.

"It's quite alright! Mutsu and I were just going for a stroll after supper. You provided some welcome comic relief to break the gloomy mood we had going."

"Happy to be of assistance." I groan while sitting up.

"Are you okay? Nothing broken?" Mutsu asks, a concerned look on her face.

"Yes ma'am, I'm alright. My pride has buckled a little, but otherwise I'm fine." I joke back, getting up with some assistance from Portland.

"So long as there's nothing physical." The Japanese ship-girl giggles back.

"Run along now, I'll see you at breakfast tomorrow." Arizona pats me on the back, a smile on her face.

"Yes ma'am. See you then."

Portland and I slowly jog off, taking more caution this time.

* * *

When we reach the bunkhouse I follow close behind Portland as she leads the way in, up to the second story, where I'm told half of the floor is reserved for our group.

"Here we are!" Portland cheers as she throws open the door and walks in confidently. I'm slower on entering, and I see Salem sitting on a bunk down at the other end, almost sulking.

"There's an empty bunk next to mine, so you can take that one if you want!" Portland continues on, not having noticed the only other ship-girl in the room. I walk past her and sit down on the bed next to Salem.

"She didn't hurt you too much I hope?"

"N-no, she just told me your story… I'm sorry for what I said earlier. It was really insensitive of me…"

"Don't worry about it too much. You didn't know." I rub her on the shoulder. "You can make it up to me tomorrow by helping me train. Sound fair?"

"Y-yes ma'am! I won't let you down!"

"I know you won't, now go finish eating. Quit sulking here." I smack her on the back as she gets up and heads out of the room, leaving Portland and I alone together.

"I'm surprised you let it drop so easily. I mean, taking a blow like that and shaking it off…" Portland starts as I get up from Salem's bed and walk over to the one she was talking about earlier. "That's not really something a cruiser would normally do…"

"Well it's not exactly like I can challenge her. I've yet to be out on the water. She'd mop the deck with me."

"Floor." Portland corrects me before I flop onto my bed.

"Floor, deck, it's the same thing!"

"I know, I'm just messing with you."

I can feel every muscle relaxing as I lay on my bed, and my eyes start to feel heavier the longer I lay there.

"Whatever. 'M goin' to sleep." I grumble, turning onto my side.

"Sleep tight. I'll see you in the morning."

* * *

"!" I shoot up out of bed, my heart pounding in my chest while sweat cakes my body. Frantically I look around the dark room, then realize where I am.

 _'A nightmare… it's just a nightmare.'_

I sigh in relief and swing my legs out of bed, moving slow as to not wake the others. I get up and slip my boots on before trodding to the door and leaving as quietly as possible.

The hall is just as dark as the bedroom, but due to the simple nature of it I easily get downstairs and out the front door, into the crisp air of the night.

I walk towards the docks, towards the ocean, keeping my hands in my jacket pocket while I think of the nightmare that transpired earlier. Before I know it I reach the boardwalk, and find a spot along the water where I can lean on a railing and look up at the stars over the water.

Some time later a voice startles me out of my thoughts. "You picked a good spot. It's good to see you Indy."

I look over my shoulder to find another ship-girl slowly walking towards me.

"I'm sorry… I probably know you, but we've all changed a lot since those days."

"True. I'm Northampton."

"Oh, hey Nora. It's been a while." I chortle.

"Indeed it has. Over seventy years in fact."

"I guess we've really gotten old then."

"In terms of how long we've been around yes, but in terms of combat effectiveness we're still in our prime."

"We are? I'd have thought that the Navy would've found something that would make us obsolete."

"They have, they're just extremely expensive compared to us. We're more cost-effective." Northampton explains, leaning against the railing beside me. "Anyway, besides staring at the stars, why are you out here? I figured you'd be sleeping."

"Nightmares. I couldn't stay asleep, so I figured I'd come out here to try and clear my head." I mumble solemnly, looking over at her. "How about you?"

"Same reason. You wanna talk about it?"

"There's not much to talk about… it's the same exact dream every time. I'm always back underwater, watching my sailors get picked off by sharks."

"That's it? No other nightmares?"

"... There's one other… instead of being underwater I'm up on the surface with them. They keep yelling at me that it's my fault, and eventually they… they throw me to a Tiger shark. It always ends when it's about to bite down." I shudder at the memory of the nightmare. "Maybe they're right… it's my fault they're dead."

"No it's not. Don't think like that. You did your best, but ultimately it was up to them to make things happen." Nora slips an arm over my shoulders and hugs me, pulling me away from the railing. "I know what might help you. Arizona did the same thing for me. We could get all the survivors together and you could meet with them."

"I-I don't know Nora… my sinking wasn't like yours, I went down like a rock."

"I know that. I know for a fact that there's still some out there. You need someone that was there to tell you what you need to hear. I'll talk to Arizona and we'll make it happen."

"But-" I try to argue, but she cuts me off.

"No buts! It's gonna happen and that's final!"

"Fine…"

I look across the bay towards the Golden Gate Bridge, watching as two figures seem to walk across the water between two of the pylons.

"Who's that?" I ask, pointing towards them.

"Probably the transports that'll be carrying your extra gear… though it looks like they may have had a run-in with the enemy."

"This close to base?"

"They're all up and down the coast. I'll send one of the destroyer squadrons out in the morning to deal with them."

As the ship-girls get closer I can see that there's four instead of two. Both figures is actually one person helping another.

"Hey Nora… can I do that? Walk on water I mean."

"Well yeah, you just need your rigging. It takes a while to get the hang of, but it's… relaxing."

"Can I start right now?"

"Wha-? You sure you don't want to wait 'till morning?"

"Yeah. I don't want to slow down the rest of the carrier group, so I want to start as soon as possible."

"...I guess that's reasonable. Follow me."


	2. Chapter 2: Those she loved

**[A/N]: Y'all wanted more, so here it is!**

 **I'm not gonna lie, I lost interest in this story for a while. I had a longer chapter worked partway through, but it was such a slog that I scrapped it and jumped straight to the interesting part.**

 **Having said that, I hope y'all enjoy!**

* * *

"Here we are." Northampton stops in front of a building that is somewhat reminiscent of a submarine pen, with a pair of metal double doors on the corner closest to us.

"Are you going to join me?" I ask.

"I… uh, sure."

We enter the concrete building and I marvel at its features while entering the door. A small corridor just inside the door shows off the outer concrete shell, easily being six feet thick. Once through the corridor I find that there's multiple rooms, the simple wooden doors being labeled by groups in accordance to what I could guess is ordered by size.

Northampton leads me to a door on the nearest end, pushing it open to show a row of very large lockers beside the open water.

"Your rigging is stored in the locker on the end. I'll show you how it gets put on."

She grabs me by the wrist and leads me down to the locker mentioned. "Put your feet on the marks on the floor and place your right hand against the sensor on the locker. In that order."

On the floor sits two yellow foot outlines. Pretty self-explanatory even if she hadn't told me what to do. I follow the instructions and place my hand against the round plate in the middle of the locker before feeling a tingling feeling that travels through my whole body. The locker doors spring open and I'm turned around before I'm lifted off the ground and my boots are taken off, replaced by metal versions of what I was just wearing. Without any warning I'm set back down and something is placed on my left arm. Then something really heavy is clamped on my shoulders, followed by the same weight on my hips.

Then as quickly as it opened the locker closes up again.

"This is heavy as hell!" I groan.

"What did you expect? I see you have your '45 remodel though, I'm loving the look."

"Thanks… got a mirror anywhere?"

"Yup, right this way." She grabs my wrist again, and I manage to stumble my way behind her without tripping thanks to the new awkward boots. She leads the way down to the other end of the lockers, where a floor-length mirror sits on the wall.

"Wow…"

On my back sits something similar to a backpack, with metal struts on each side, so that two of my eight-inch turrets are by my hips while my third sits more or less by my right shoulder, with enough clearance for the quad 40mm Bofors sitting atop my shoulders to be clear of any concussion from the guns. Atop the backpack and on a platform stretching behind my shoulders are multiple miniature 20mm Oerlikon's along with anti-aircraft 5"/25 guns and four more quad-barreled 40mm mounts.

On my left arm sits a low-profile floatplane catapult, and on my left side attached to the backpack are four miniature SC-1 Seahawk float planes, though it looks like some assembly is required before I can launch them.

"This is pretty cool and all, but let's get out on the water." I turn towards where Northampton was standing, only to find that she's not here anymore. "Hey! Where'd you go?!"

"One second!" I hear her voice echo through the pen, and a few seconds later she walks through the large bay door, with rigging somewhat similar to mine, though on her thighs she has two triple-barreled torpedo launchers. She also has significantly less anti-aircraft guns than I do.

"Ready?" She asks.

"Born ready."

"Follow me then."

She leads the way to an elevator at the end of the slot and hits the button after both of us are on, letting it lower down into the water.

"You want to have a go first? Or do you want me to lead on?" She asks as our boots start to hold us on top of the water.

"You lead on so I can watch the technique."

With a nod she turns towards to open mouth of the sub pen and pushes her foot back and to the side, almost like ice skating. She gets out of the enclosed space and skids to a stop, turning around to watch me.

 _'That doesn't seem too terribly hard…'_

I try to copy her technique, and for the first few strides I do good until I accidentally shift my weight too far forward and my feet slide out from underneath me, leaving me to faceplant on the surface of the water.

Not one to be discouraged I shakily get to my feet and try again, being mindful to keep my center of mass over my feet.

I get moving pretty easily, and going in a straight line is simple enough, but when I try to turn I lean too far and end up falling again.

"Take it easy, this is your first time out." Northampton tries to help me up, but I shrug her away and stand up on my own.

"Easy? Pah! I don't have time for easy!" I jeer before once again taking off across the bay, this time leaning into the turn a little less.

 _'I won't let them down!'_

* * *

Four hours later I'm still out practicing when the sun starts to come up. I weave through the slalom course and traverse my turrets, practicing both evasive maneuvers and target acquisition. One at a time isn't too hard, but doing both requires some concentration, and doing it on my own means I have to imagine the targets.

Since I don't want to wake anyone up I don't fire at said imaginary targets, but the maneuvering is my primary focus regardless.

I guess I get a bit into the moment as the sun starts to crest the hills in the distance, because I'm brought back to reality rather suddenly when a practice shell lands right in front of me, sending a column of water skyward and knocking me flat on my ass.

"Hey! Earth to Indianapolis!" A voice yells from off to my right. I look over to find Salem sailing towards me, the middle gun on one of her turrets elevated. "We got up this morning and you weren't in your bunk. Portland has been worried sick!"

"Oh. Sorry." I apologize as she slows to a stop in front of me.

"So what's got you out here? Training wasn't scheduled until later today."

"I couldn't sleep, so I went for a walk and ran into Northampton. We got to talking and I wanted to get out here and practice."

"Oh. Well, it's time for breakfast. Let's head back." Salem jerks a thumb over her shoulder.

"Alright. I was starting to get hungry anyways."

I start leading the way back, but Salem passes me up. "Come on slowpoke! Let's get there before the place gets busy!"

"I'm coming! Just let me take a breather!" I yell after her.

She eventually slows down enough for me to sail beside her, though it's clear she wants to rush ahead.

"So whatd'ya think of your rigging?" She asks.

"It's… well it's heavy but it feels _right_. Though I can't for the love of me figure out why the hell I need an anchor." I pull said anchor off of its point on my thigh and hold it up.

"Oh, that? Everyone carries one. It's a good weapon for when the Abyssals get too close for guns."

"Too...close…?"

"Yeah! These monsters'll ram ya' if they get close enough, and the last Battleship Hime we faced did a number on Missouri."

I knit my eyebrows and stare at her in confusion for a second or three, then shrug, putting the anchor back where it belongs.

We sail into the sub pen and wait while the elevator brings us up to ground level. When it stops moving Salem heads over to one of the lockers closest to me and places her hand on the sensor plate before turning around and holding her arms straight out to the side. The locker springs open and some sort of mechanical arms reach out to grab her rigging, quickly withdrawing with the entire assembly back into the locker before Salem takes off the clunky boots and puts them inside along with her anchor. She quickly looks herself over before closing the lockers doors and jogging out, leaving me alone inside.

I unsteadily stumble down to my end locker and copy what she did, pushing on the pressure plate before quickly turning around and spreading my arms. I hear the locker open, then the clamps securing my rigging to my shoulders and hips unlatch before it's all lifted off me, withdrawing into the locker, ready for future use.

Looking at the interior I notice there's a spot that looks like it's perfectly molded to hold my floatplane catapult, and after a couple minutes of trying to figure out how to get the damned thing off I find the simple push-slide mechanism and manage to get it off. Next up is the boots, and those come off so much easier. I place everything inside and grab my regular land boots before shutting the locker.

"Hey Indy, Where you at?!" A voice yells while I'm lacing up my boots.

"In here!" I call back.

A few seconds later one of the other cruisers sticks her head in the door. "It's me, Oakland. Having troubles getting everything in order?"

"No, I was just finishing up. Sorry for taking so long."

"Don't worry about it. Everyone's heading to Maryls. Your sister was freaking the hell out for a bit, but Northampton stopped by with your study books and said you were probably still out practicing."

By the time she finishes talking I finish lacing up my boots and stand, rolling my shoulders. "Alright, let's go eat."

"Sounds good to me."

* * *

Oakland and I leave the 'moorings' and walk in relative silence to Maryl's, which is looking relatively empty aside from the rest of our carrier group, and some wetsuit-clad girls over in the far corner, which seem to be getting the stink-eye from the destroyers in our group.

"See? I told you she was fine!" Salem teases Portland.

"With you being such an airhead it's hard to tell when you're telling the truth!" Portland snaps back, jumping up and walking over to me. I'm instantly pulled into a hug and squeezed to the point where I can hardly breathe.

After a few seconds Alabama registers the look on my face. "Christ Portland, let 'er breathe!"

My sister quickly loosens her grip, mumbling apologies to me while she continues to hug me.

"Geez sis', I was only gone a couple hours, and I'm pretty sure I'm not going to get torpedoed in the bay."

"I know but I can't help but worry about you!"

"Yeah I know." I giggle back just as the from door jingles. Portland and I break from our hug to find Arizona jogging up to us.

"Carrier group two, have all of you agreed on wanting to go to Japan?"

"Yes ma'am, it was unanimous." Missouri responds, looking worried, due to the serious look Arizona has.

"Excellent. There's been a change of plans. I need you all to finish your food and start getting your shit packed. I'm assigning Guam and Alaska to you. You leave in four days. 0700 at the moorings. Mutsu will be waiting for you all."

"Yes ma'am! We'll be there!"

Arizona smiles and sighs in relief. "Good. Do you mind if I eat with you all?"

Missouri looks around the table and then smiles. "Not at all! There's an open spot by Indy!"

As Arizona sits down she calls out towards the kitchen. "Maryl! Bury! Battleship special please! Enough for all of carrier group two!"

"Coming right up!"

* * *

I can't begin to describe how busy the next few days were. Packing, training, and going to class, learning conceptual tactics and the fine details on how some of our equipment works, as well as learning the bare-boned basics of the Japanese language.

On the day before departure, at roughly noon, I'm studying the capabilities and workings of my 5"/25 guns on my bunk when Portland nudges my foot.

"Hey, take a break from studying. Let's go for a walk."

"Not right now. I need to finish these notes on my dual-purpose guns." I respond, not looking up from the textbook and my notebook.

"I'll help you catch up when we get back. You've been running full-bore the entire time since we got our orders. And don't think I don't know about you sneaking off at night to go train."

I stop scrawling down a note and sigh, pushing my textbook off my legs and onto my sheets. "Alright, you win."

"Awesome, get dressed. We'll eat dinner while we're out and about."

"But-"

"No buts! I know you haven't been eating too!" She cuts me off. "When was the last time you ate until you were full?"

"Umm… supper yesterday?" I lie, hoping she'll give me a pass.

"I'm calling BS. You require more supplies than I do, and you ate less than I did." She scowls at me as I get up and shuck my sweatpants, trading for a pair of blue jeans. I keep my short sleeve shirt and gray hoodie sporting '35' in big white letters on the back, with a smaller version on the front.

Finally I pull on my boots and lace them up, giving Portland a nod before we head out, into the light drizzle of rain.

"Perfect weather for a walk." I say sarcastically, flipping up my hood.

"It's not bad." Portland shrugs, smiling as we walk towards the docks.

Despite the mediocre weather I'm actually in a relatively good mood. My odd lack of any nightmares last night had me getting a good night's sleep, which after previous restless nights was a welcome relief.

"Let's head into Maryl's and eat. Then we can walk to help things settle." Portland motions for me to follow her as she starts towards the diner. As we get closer I feel increasingly uneasy, but I press through it, and when I get inside the threshold for the diner the cause of my uneasiness immediately becomes evident.

Inside the long tables with benches have been moved off to one side to make room for several small round tables, each sporting four chairs each. In the chairs sit more than a dozen rather elderly gentlemen, most sporting fancier dress, slacks, jackets. It looks like a banquet of sorts, and Portland quickly steers me into a side room behind the stage.

Inside the side room Arizona and Northampton stand patiently, warm smiles on their faces. It takes me a minute to catch on.

"Hey Nora, are those gentlemen out there…?"

In response she nods, her smile spreading. "I keep my promises. Those are men who served aboard you during the war. When it was explained to them that you were back as a ship-girl they practically jumped at the chance to see you again. But before you go out there, here's a different jacket."

She pulls out a leather jacket from behind her back, and after taking off my damp hoodie I slip it on, stepping in front of a floor-length mirror after partially zipping it up. On the left side are ten embroidered stars, while on the right side is a nametag simply reading 'CA-35 USS Indianapolis'. On my right shoulder is the American flag, and completing the embroidered patches on my left shoulder is my hull designation.

"You made this jacket for me just so I could show off didn't you?" I ask.

"Nah. The Admiral actually had these made for all of us. You can head out into town if you're wearing your jacket." Arizona responds, clapping me on the shoulder. "Well, you ready to go see the boys again?"

I take a deep breath to calm my nerves and nod, straightening my posture. "I'll try anything once."

"That's the spirit!" Arizona cheers, slapping me on the back before opening the door to the stage.

Northampton leads the way out onto the stage, followed by myself. She motions for me to wait and walks out into view of the old men and their wives, gaining their attention quickly before smiling. "I'll keep this brief I promise. Welcome to the San Francisco Naval Yard, I am the heavy cruiser Northampton. I would like to say that the ship-girl program is greatly appreciative of you all showing up, it's a big morale booster to us all, and in this case I'm sure Indianapolis appreciates you being here, though…" She glances in my direction and smiles reassuringly before turning back to the group. "She looks like she's sweating bullets. A big problem with the program is that ships who sank during the war, and even those that were sank after the war, suffer from nightmares, and often feel as if they let their sailors down. Put simply, you being here helps with our confidence, and when our confidence is up we perform better. Having said that, Indy, come on out here."

I take a nervous step forward, then another, and another, until I'm standing beside Northampton. Then, as I turn towards the small crowd they all slowly rise, as if on cue. Some requiring help, which is happily provided by Portland and Arizona. Once they're all standing they raise their hands to a Navy salute, each one of them smiling like they did more than seventy years ago, a smile of pride and camaraderie. I stare in surprise before I feel a smile creep across my face, and I raise my hand in a salute back. Once the exchange is finished I'm nudged by Northampton, and she smiles at me. "Head down there, trust me."

I look at her skeptically for a moment before nodding and starting towards the set of stairs at the right side of the stage. When I get off the stage and start towards them two of the sailors who are able to easily move emerge from the crowd and meet me halfway, holding out their arms to escort me towards the group. I'm surprised by the gesture, but nonetheless link arms with them, allowing myself to be guided to an open area in the middle of the tables, where everyone has gathered. I stand nervously as they all look at me in silence, expecting for them to rebuke me and criticize me, and then one of them finally breaks the silence.

"Wow, and I thought she looked slick as a ship!"

That draws a suspense-shattering laugh from almost everyone present as one of them puts his arm over my shoulder. "You sure aged well! What's your secret?"

Another round of laughter, and a man with a cane shuffles forward and places a hand on my shoulder. "Sorry we let ya' go down. There wasn't much we could do, but by golly we tried!"

There's a round of confirmation by all the ex-sailors present, and one by one they give me hugs, which I happily return.

Finally after everyone reintroduces themselves and introduces their wives Bury and Maryl wheel in carts heaping with food. A gramophone is brought in, and various artists like Glenn Miller and Dean Martin are played as other ship-girls file in for supper. Seeing the festivities, some opt to dance with the gentlemen a little before eating, slowing to meet the pace that the men set.

After a bit of dancing I sit down at one of the small tables and eat under Portland's watchful eye. I watch while eating as a couple of the more able-bodied men take the floor with people like Alaska, Fall River, and Brooklyn. Much to everyone's surprise and amusement it's like they're in their twenties again, twirling and lifting their partner, and generally having an outstanding time. Once they take a break some of the battleships and light cruisers take the wives onto the dance floor, once again meeting the pace of the elderly women so that everyone has as much fun as possible. Finally at around fourteen-hundred hours the festivities taper off, and nearly all of the ship-girls return to their duties, whether that be studying, training, or patrolling.

Sadly, all good times must come to an end, and after another hour of chatting with the sailors about all of the fun and interesting things that happened during the war I bid farewell to them and return to the bunkhouse with Portland.

* * *

"So do you feel better?" She asks once we get back.

"Yeah!" I chirp, sitting down on my bunk and taking my boots off.

She smiles and lays down on her bunk, staring at the ceiling with a delighted sigh. "I haven't seen so many happy people in one place in ages. I'm pretty sure the last time was at the end of the war. "Operation Magic Carpet" I think it was called."

I hum happily while I pull out my notebook and flip back to the page I was writing on, to find it completely filled out, though I know I stopped halfway down the page. "Huh? I didn't write this."

Portland giggles and grins mischievously, looking at me through the corner of her eye. "You do know we have the exact same handwriting, right?"

"...We do…? And more importantly, why are you doing my notes!? I'm actually trying to learn about these!"

"Because you need to _relax_. We leave tomorrow, and if you're dead on your feet from studying then Mutsu might not let you go."

"Oh… I guess I can take a break for the day…."

"Good. Now, how about we round some people up for some Blackjack?"

I smile and put my notebook on my nightstand.

"Sounds like a good idea to me!" I cheer.

As we both get up, and head out, the words of one of my old five-inch gunners holds fast in my mind.

 _"You're still a beautiful ship Indy, and you always will be."_


	3. Chapter 3: Leaving Home

**[A/N]: Here's the chapter some of y'all said you've been waiting for. Sorry if I disappoint.**

 **I hope you enjoy, and I'll probably update this chapter with a couple improved scenes once I can think of them.**

* * *

 _!_

I bolt upright in bed, my shirt sticking to my sweat-caked body. It takes me a moment to realize where I am, and I sigh before swinging my legs out of bed. Across the room Enterprise and Missouri sit upright, dressed in their uniforms, only being illuminated by the moonlight through the windows and the tablets in their hands.

Missouri looks away from her tablet and over at me, then checks the time. "You've got half an hour. Go take a shower and then get back here."

I nod and grab my shower bag, slipping on a pair of shoes before leaving the dorm. Down at the end of the hall sits a simple shower room, specifically for getting clean, without the repairing capabilities of the drydocks. I drop my bag on a bench, get out of my clothes, and grab the lavender soap that I've come to love before walking down to the end of the rows of shower heads. Within a minute of turning on the shower head the water is scalding hot, just perfect for burning away the nightmare.

I step under and let the hot water cascade onto my head and shoulders, allowing my bangs to fall into my eyes as I simply stand there for a minute.

Then there's a patter of feet on the tile, and I look over to see an ebony-haired light cruiser that I've gotten to know due to this exact situation. Without any soap she walks out of the locker room and straight under the nearest showerhead, turning on the hot water and bracing herself against the wall as the water pours down onto her.

I sigh and start washing my hair, waiting for her to calm down before speaking quietly.

"Hey Juneau. Same one tonight?"

"Y-yeah…" She huffs. "How 'bout you?"

"Just the sharks tonight." I respond, washing the soap out of my hair.

"I-it was everything tonight. The hit, the Sullivans… the sharks…" She lets out a shaky sigh and wipes her eyes. "I just can't get a full night's sleep."

"Best thing you can do is keep fighting."

I set about cleaning the rest of my body and toss her the bottle once I'm done with it, as I've done the previous nights. Once everything is rinsed off I turn off the water and start towards the locker room.

"Did you grab a towel tonight?" I ask.

"Shit, sorry…" She grumbles, getting ready to ask if she can borrow mine when I'm done with it.

"Don't worry about it, I've got a second one for you. You can have the rest of that bottle too, I picked some up at the PX a couple days ago, and it doesn't make sense to haul a half-empty bottle clear across the Pacific."

"Really? Thanks!"

"Don't mention it. Take care of yourself, y'hear?" I demand, drying off and getting dressed.

"Yes ma'am. You too. Come back in one piece."

"I fully intend to." I respond, grabbing my shower bag and leaving the second towel on the bench. I walk out of the locker room and back to our fleet dorm, where everyone is up and about, getting ready for our voyage.

Packs are staged, beds immaculately made to the point where you can bounce a quarter off them, and any personal items that anyone doesn't want to be found are properly stored in the very bottom of their footlockers.

We get dressed and head to Maryls, sitting down at a long table and chowing down on heaping plates of food. We all eat ravenously, stuffing ourselves in preparation of the long voyage ahead. I get roughly halfway through my meal before Enterprise points at me with her fork. "So I saw you thrashing around this morning. You wanna talk about it?"

I shrug in response, chewing and swallowing my mouthful of potatoes and eggs prior to speaking. "What is there to talk about? I had a nightmare about my sinking."

"It helps to talk about it. What was the nightmare? How often do you have that nightmare?" Lexington cuts in, leaning forward to look down the table at me.

"Come on Indy, you can talk to us." Salem says with a comforting voice that I didn't think was possible to hear from her.

"I…" I look around the table and receive nods from everyone, confirming what Salem said. "It was the same one I have every night, I'm in the water with my sailors, and there's sharks circling us, and one grabs me. That's where it always ends."

"...Well shit Indy, when you put it like that it doesn't sound all that scary." Salem mumbles, earning an elbow in the ribs from Alabama.

"I know, but… the stuff that I saw when I sank… it just makes sharks that much more terrifying to me I guess…"

The conversation falls silent before Missouri claps her hands together. "So! Who's looking forward to going to Japan? I know I am!" Some people around the table just shrug in response, while others nod. Those of us who sank before the war ended merely grumble, feeling like she's boasting.

"Okay, how about a better question. What do y'all think the Japanese ships'll be like?" Enterprise cuts in, trying to salvage the conversation.

"Hopefully they'll be real chill. I'd hate to be stuck in a base with a bunch of stuck-up ship girls who hate us for sinking them." Lexington hums thoughtfully before downing a pancake. There's a quiet round of confirmation that rumbles around the table, followed by Chicago speaking.

"If they're anything like Mutsu then we'll be fine. What about the Admiral we'll be serving under? I hope he's not an honor-driven Narcissist."

The rumble of confirmation is louder this time, accompanied by some nervous chuckling. Enterprise gets a grin on her face, which is quickly wiped off when Missouri stomps on her foot and points at her face. "No seducing the Jap Admiral either. Don't say you weren't thinking about it because I know that grin."

"Dammit. Fine." The carrier groans, swilling her cup of coffee.

After a few more minutes Missouri looks at her watch, then at the rest of us, who have mostly finished our meals with the exception of Alaska and Guam. "Alright folks, let's get going. It's a long trip, and we've got a time schedule to adhere to."

The two large cruisers wolf down the last of their food and get up with the rest of us, picking up our heavy packs and starting out the door towards the moorings.

Inside, we find a bright-eyed and bushy-tailed Mutsu waiting for us, already in her rigging.

"Good morning. Is everyone ready?"

"Yes ma'am. We just need the merchant ships to show up." Enterprise reports, sending Mutsu a salute.

"No need for such formalities. Arizona sent the merchant ships ahead with an escort detail. We should depart and catch up with them." Mutsu responds, lazily saluting back before giggling.

Missouri turns to us all and bellows, her voice echoing inside the concrete structure. "You heard her! Gear up! We're leaving immediately!"

Everyone jumps into motion, running to our lockers and donning our rigging. Those of us carrying backpacks put them on our front, where our smokestacks and gun mounts won't get snagged on them, and our fairies help us get them on in a way where they'll be comfortable.

"Hey! Everyone line up before you leave!" Iowa yells as she runs in, sporting a camera.

"Sis we've got a timeline-" Missouri starts to protest, but she's shushed by Iowa.

"I know, this'll only take a minute! Promise!"

Knowing Iowa won't give up Missouri caves, sighing in resignation. "Alright! Line up! Destroyers in front! Battleships and carriers in the back! Cruisers fill in the gap!"

We quickly follow orders, lining up against the wall with the tallest of us in the back, and the destroyers in the front. The light cruisers, being shorter than the heavy cruisers, stand in front of us, and the two 'large cruisers' stand at one end. Portland slots in beside me, and our fairies even come out and find places to sit.

"Alright, that's perfect! Everyone say cheese!" Iowa instructs, holding up the expensive modern camera.

"Cheese!"

A pair of pictures later and Iowa wishes us all good luck before running out.

"Alright! Let's get a move on people!" Missouri yells, spurring us all towards the lift that lowers us into the water. The destroyers and light cruisers launch first, making the outer ring of the sailing formation as the heavy cruisers and the two large cruisers launch. We all make the outer ring, and then the battleships and carriers launch, forming the center of the formation as we all sail under the Golden Gate Bridge.

"Deja vu, eh?" Portland asks me, looking at the bridge looming overhead.

"Yeah, except the last time I did this was the _last time_." I mutter, dragging my fingertips on one of the supports as I pass it.

"Standard cruising formation! Cruising speed!" Missouri yells as we break out into open water.

"And off we go." Portland adds with ever so slightest wink.

"Hey, look at that! It's one of the guided missile cruiser ship-girls!" Flint cheers, pointing off our port beam, where a girl with a square gray superstructure on her back is making her way towards us, a smile on her face.

"Good luck y'all! Give 'em hell!" She yells, passing behind us. Two Phalanx CIWS sail beside her on what looks like life rings, and she waves with the hand that isn't holding her gun turret.

"Thanks! You too!" Alabama yells back, giving her a salute, which she enthusiastically returns as she continues on her bearing, north up the coast.

"Been awhile since we saw a Ticonderoga-class cruiser like her. They usually hang out in the Atlantic." Portland hums. "Wonder what she's doing here?"

"That's above our pay grade. Let's just focus on what we're doing." I mumble, dreading the long voyage ahead.

* * *

"Is that it?" Missouri asks Enterprise, looking at the dull silhouette of the Japanese main islands on the horizon.

"Looks like it. 'Dunno, let me send the girls to find out." Enterprise responds, loading an N-block clip in her Garand and raising it to her shoulder. A crack of her rifle rings out, and as I've seen before the red streak turns into a pair of F6F-5N night fighters, which climb up and away, towards the islands.

"Mutsu, is that the base?" Missouri then asks the battleship behind her, who nods in response, just as my surface radar lights up with four contacts on the horizon.

"Contact, range forty miles! Four unidentified ships, sailing towards us!" Portland beats me to the report, and I can see her fairies quit lounging around and jump to their battlestations.

"Comption! Meredith! Flint! Go check it out!" Missouri orders, and the three ships take off at full stride, quickly disappearing into the night.

"I almost hope somebody does pick a fight! It'll be short if they do!" Alabama laughs, stretching her arms above her head.

"My girls are passing over them now. They're reporting four submarines. Japanese, not Abyssals. More behind them though, three cruisers."

"Those would be the Takao sisters and Myoukou. They were assigned to meet us." Mutsu advises.

"Two Takao-class and a Myoukou-class? That's a tad heavily-armed for a welcome party, don't you reckon?" Alabama teases, a couple of her fairies climbing on her.

"One would think, except every time ships are sent out they run into contact without fail." Mutsu muses, seconds before a dozen contacts register on my radar to our port side.

"Contact! Twelve contacts, thirty-six miles! Port side!" I call out, my fairies quickly jumping up from where they were lounging on my shoulders and running to their battle stations.

"And there they are." Mutsu hums, her guns traversing to a more combat-ready position.

"General Quarters! Carriers turn away and retreat to a safe distance!" Missouri orders as the three carrier girls load their rifles. "Indy, Oakland, Chicago, Louisville, Boise, Salem, Alabama, go with the carriers! Everyone else, let's go get 'em!"

I slap Portland on the shoulder as I turn to follow the carriers. "Have fun!"

"Stay safe!" She cheers back as they all turn towards the contacts. In the center of the formation of our carriers the three flattops raise their rifles and fire in rapid succession, each shot turning into a full flight of torpedo bombers or night fighters, which swing around and fly towards the enemy, over the heads of the other half of our group. The carrier group sails north for a bit, until we're barely out of sight of them, and watch the explosions on the horizon, painting the clouds overhead orange for brief seconds at a time.

"We've got 'em whipped. Good job girls!" Enterprise cheers, raising the flight deck strapped to her right arm. A line of lights wink on atop it, and one by one the planes return. The same happens with Lexington and Wasp, and before long they all retrieve their respective clips from under their flight decks and return them to their pouches on their belts. Enterprise gives hers a kiss and puts it back in her rifle, which she holds in her left hand under the receiver as we maneuver to regroup with the rest of the task force. Lexington ties her Springfield to her bag, and Wasp slings hers on her shoulder, showing their trust in the skills of the 'Big E'.

"That was easy!" Salem cheers once the two groups join back up, now with the three Japanese cruisers accompanying us.

"They picked a fight with a task force containing three carriers and brought no air support. What did they think was going to happen?" Enterprise replies with a shrug, looking bored and, above all, tired.

"No kidding. Let's get going, we're all tired." Missouri yawns, starting towards the base.

"No argument here, I could sleep on nails at this point." Toledo yawns, one of her fairies starting to fall asleep on a Bofors mount before another fairy on the same mount slaps it.

* * *

"So where are we bunking tonight?" I ask once we get the lowdown on the base.

"Wherever we can. We're sleeping like bums tonight." Missouri sighs, having stored her rigging like the rest of us.

"We should all sleep in the same area so it's easier to find each other in the morning." Columbia advises.

"Good idea. How about over there?" Guam points over to a spot of open ground, what I can only presume is the parade grounds.

"Looks good. Everyone find a spot and call it a night."

Laying down on the dry grass I pull the sleeping bag out of my backpack and crawl into it, using my bag as a pillow as my fairies snooze around my head. In mere seconds my eyelids bottom out, and I fall into the clutches of sleep, expecting nightmares.

* * *

When I wake up, I find a girl jogging down the path by where we're sleeping. I forget where we are for a second until it registers to me when I see the buildings.

"Oh right, we're in Japan now."

I watch her run past, clearly simply out for a morning run, and with nothing better to do as the others continue sleeping, I get out of my bag, throw on my hoodie, and follow her, getting into pace very easily.

Eventually, I speed up to run alongside her, and she looks at me with surprise in her eyes.

"Ohayo Gozaimasu!" I say good morning in Japanese, remembering my studies, and somewhat expecting her not to know English.

"H-hello." She responds in English, and I nearly instantly feel like an idiot for assuming.

"I saw you out for a run and figured I'd join you. I'm Indianapolis, please call me Indy."

"I'm Fubuki. Nice to meet you!"

"Nice to meet you too. Do you go running like this every morning?"

"Yeah!"

I smile and turn my head to her. "Would you like a running partner?"

"Yes please!"

"Alright, but just because I'm a heavy cruiser don't expect me to be slow!" I chide, speeding up to my usual running pace.

Nine or ten laps later, we both collapse in front of a building labelled "fleet dorms" in Japanese. Both of us are caked in sweat, and we lay on the stone walkway huffing as we try to catch our breath.

"Say… Fubuki... was it?"

"Hai…?"

"I'm pretty impressed…. there's… not many… who can keep up with me."

"Arigatou…"

We lay there for several minutes, and when I sit up I realize how cute she really looks, and I poke her cheek, earning a strange look from her.

"Why…?"

I shrug in response, getting to my feet and offering a hand up, which she takes, and I haul her to her feet before responding.

"Because I can."


	4. Chapter 4: Lex's lesson, status update

**[A/N]: Short chapter I know. But this is more so I can give y'all a heads-up on what's going on with my time between uploads.**

 **As of late I've had to sacrifice my writing time to ensure my grades stayed afloat. I'm officially a college student, with a job, and as of late the Walleye bite on the river has heated up, so I've been out fishing for them when I have the time. Of course, when the weather is nasty I stay home instead of going fishing, and I've done SOME work on my lesser stories, but I don't have enough time in the day to make serious progress on all of them.**

 **'No Greater Friend' has been on the back burner alot, and I apologize for that. I'll be writing more often once I get laid-off from work (it's coming soon, I just don't know when), but my upload times have slowed down drastically for the time being.**

* * *

"Indy, where were you?" Missouri asks, staring at me with her arms crossed.

"I went for a run with one of the Japanese destroyers." I respond, straightening my uniform after changing out of my running clothes.

"Damn, Indy's making friends already!" Chicago jokes.

"Keep it down, most of the japanese ships are still asleep." Enterprise warns. "Everyone get into uniform and we'll head to meet the Admiral. Then we'll get breakfast."

"Keep in mind people, we're still guests here until the admiral makes a formal announcement. Be on your best behavior." Missouri sighs as all of us start making sure our uniforms are creaseless and spotless. Everyone's fairies help them out, rubbing the creases out of shirts and helping them with their hair. Mine actually help me get my hair brushed out, and help me with the creases before going back to their business, snoozing on my backpack.

"Leave bags here, the fairies will guard them." Missouri orders once we all are ready, and together we march off to the Admiral's office, where we meet Nagato, and the Japanese admiral.

* * *

"Geez, the guy sure is easy on the eyes, but he needs to improve his people skills." Enterprise grumbles after we walk out.

"Hey, at least he's not the stuck-up admiral you were worried he was gonna be. I mean, independent action? Sweet!" I cheer, walking beside Portland.

"Basically we can do whatever we want until they actually need us?" Meredith asks.

"Yep. We've still gotta go do patrols and QRF, but we can choose where we patrol." Flint confirms as she runs her fingers through her strawberry blonde hair.

"Who wants to go chase down some Abyssal cruisers after breakfast?" Alaska asks.

"I'm in Sis'." Guam exchanges a high-five with her sister before we all pick up the pace to the diner.

"Sounds like fun to me." Columbia confirms.

"Don't get damaged." Missouri sighs, looking over at Enterprise with a look of 'please say something'.

"Have fun y'all. I'mma stay here and get to know some of the battleships." Alabama yawns, stretching her arms above her head.

"I'll probably do the same thing. Get to know who we'll be working with." I say, glancing at Portland. She nods and smiles, throwing an arm over my shoulder as we all file into the diner and find seats. I end up sitting with Portland across from me, and we all manage to decipher the menu just as the gal comes out and gets our orders.

Portland and I order our usual rice with tuna, and as we wait some Japanese ships come in, looking reluctant to approach us, but doing so nonetheless.

"Hello there!" A girl chirps in English as she sits down beside me. "I'm the heavy cruiser Kumano."

"I'm the heavy cruiser Indianapolis, pleasure to meet you." I turn towards her and bow slightly, having learned in our studies that not all of the Japanese are comfortable with handshakes. She gently bows back, and Portland introduces herself in a similar manner to myself.

"How have you liked the naval district so far?" Kumano asks.

"So far, it's really nice. Much less industrialized than at home. No offense."

"Quite the opposite. We're just as industrialized, but we keep the industrial center disguised. I'm glad you like it."

I raise my eyebrows in surprise, and she nods with a slight smirk before some movement by the door catches my attention.

I give Fubuki a friendly wave while her and some other girls look around for open seats, and she smiles before talking to who I can only presume are her friends, walking over with them and sitting down at our table.

"Hello Fubuki!" I chirp, trying to be friendly, but formal.

"Hello Miss Indy!"

"Brought your squadron mates with you?"

She nods and motions to the two other destroyers. "This is Mutsuki and Yuudachi. Everyone, this is Indianapolis."

"It's a pleasure to meet you." Mutsuki says softly with a slight bow.

"I can't wait to fight alongside you guys, poi~!" Yuudachi says with a confident smile.

"Hey Indy, hope you don't mind but I'm gonna sit right here." Lexington says in a hushed tone as she sits beside me.

"I don't mind, but I thought you were gonna talk to the carriers?"

"That was the plan, but I may have already pissed off the crane sisters."

"That was fast…" I mutter before I take a bite of food.

"All I did was mention Coral Sea and they just started glaring at me. I don't get what they're so touchy about. Sure, we kicked the hell outta them, but _they_ didn't sink."

"Lex." Portland sighs.

"Hmm?"

"You're being kinda bitchy."

"Oh, sorry…"

"Anyway, Lexington, meet Fubuki, Yuudachi, and Mutsuki. They're all destroyers. This is Kumano, Mogami-class heavy cruiser."

"Pleasure to meet you all, Lexington-class fleet carrier, at your service." Lexington says with a smile as more Japanese ship-girls enter the restaurant. Most seem reluctant to mix in with us Americans, but do so regardless.

* * *

I finish my food rather quickly and get up, grabbing my bowl and carrying it to the back, putting it in the sink in the kitchen before starting towards the door, with Lex and Portland close behind me.

After we get outside I let out a sigh of relief. "It was getting a little too crowded for my liking."

"Mine too." Portland confirms, stretching her arms a little.

"Well, how about we stretch our legs a little and get out on the water?" Lex proposes. "My pilots want to fly."

"Sure. Let's swing by our stuff so Indy and I can pick up our fairies." Portland says with a smile.

"I'll meet y'all on the water. My fairies are with my rigging." Lex says as she breaks away and starts jogging towards the water. I grin a challenge at Portland and we both take off sprinting, racing each other across the base to the parade grounds. Upon our arrival our fairies are awake and ready, and they climb onto us before we make our way to where we stowed our rigging, fixing the clamps to us where it feels most comfortable, then changing our boots and mounting our seaplane catapults before setting out.

"Come on Sweet Pea!" I tease as I pull ahead, using her nickname.

"I'm coming! Slow down, you don't always need to go so fast!"

I roll my eyes and slow down so we're abeam to each other, heading towards Lexington on the opposite end of the bay. In a minute or so, we slow down and come about, pulling up alongside the fleet carrier as she loads a clip of ammunition into her Springfield.

"So what's the plan? We staying in the bay?" Portland asks.

"Until we get some destroyers to join us, yeah." Lex hums, raising the stock of her rifle to her shoulder and snugging her cheek against the side of the wood. She takes a deep breath and lets it out slowly, squeezing the trigger until the rifle fires, sending a red streak into the sky that turns into four F4F Wildcats.

"Wildcats?" I mutter.

"Yeah, I haven't upgraded. I know I should, but…"

"Have you upgraded your torpedo bombers?"

"No…"

"Lex…" Portland sighs. "You really should upgrade. Your Wildcats are obsolete, and to still be using TBD Devastators…"

"I know! Okay?! I just… don't want to give up my Springfield… and all my pilots are used to their current planes…" Lex snaps, getting more quiet as she talks.

"Ask Enterprise or Wasp if you can try out launching their planes. The upgrade is worth it." Portland replies softly.

"Alright…"


End file.
